Blood on the Snow
by Ohtori Akio
Summary: Chapter 4 UP! AnkoXZabuza. AU. Who would have known that it would all start when I was feeling my lowest one snowy and cold night….
1. Prologue: Comsumed in Darkness

**A/N: **Well, I know, this is weird. I don't know how many fans I'm going to get of this, but since this pairing is such a cracktastical pairing. I'm wondering how many reviews this is going to get. ;

I will write the whole thing. Remember though, it's purely for experimental purposes. Please do not flame me on this, I'm trying something so out of the ordinary that I'm not even too sure about it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is AU, meaning a lot of things are probably not going to stick to the storyline. One thing is for sure, as much as I love Haku (R.I.P gentle Haku and second favorite minor shinobi) I will not use him here.

Here's my Basic Information

Title: Blood on the Snow

Rating: PG-13

Author: Ohtori Akio

Pairing: AnkoZabuza

Genre: Angst/Romance

Warnings: Odd pairing and AU. Prologue is Anko's P.O.V.

Type: AU

Summary: AnkoXZabuza. AU. Who would have known that it would all start when I was feeling my lowest one snowy and cold night….

**Prologue: Consumed in Darkness**

**By: Ohtori Akio**

**It's been a long time since I've seen your face, but I still remember it well. The day you came into my life, I thought that you might end mine, but then something out of the blue happened to change both of our lives. Darkness consumes everything, even ninja, but there are many ways that can be dealt with. So many years I have lived in loneliness. In the beginning I was powerless to do anything to save myself…But I am always like that, aren't I?**

**I'm always faced with the fact that I'm imperfect. Happy endings are just for fairytales, right?**

**It was never a fairytale for either of us. We were just two lonely people, seeking companionship and understanding. Ninja are often pegged with many different stereotypes, but people often fail to try and understand them for what they truly are. Most of them are just like us, living, breathing flesh with emotions.**

**I was once taught to believe in the premonitions of good things to come. But how can I believe in that nonsense now? **

**I look up at the snowy sky. You always liked those kind of days, didn't you? You were a demon of the mist, after all.**

**Everyone wants to be a hero- you don't realize it, but you do. Whether you think about it or not, the actions and choices you make are never as conceited as you think they are. If you're fated to be screwed over, then you might as well let the ending hit you with full force and get it over with.**

**The problem here was, I don't like those tragic stories. Who the hell in their right mind does? **

**So- I took the role of hero- I said I'd leave to save myself from getting harmed or screwing up, but I see how well that worked…**

**Sure, it's stupid of me to try. I knew how my life went and how it was going. I just _had _to go and get someone else involved.**

**Now, normally I'd say the hell with them. It's their own problem if they're stupid enough to help me. I mean- my forehead might as well have a hazard sign on it. So if you someone couldn't see that and got hurt because they decided to step in – who was I to worry?**

**But this time, I did care.**

**This time – I wanted to be the hero.**

**But- as I have said, everyone wants to be a hero.**

**It's truly amazing how much can change between people in so little time. One minute, you're trying to kill each other, the next you're sitting down huddled in a blanket together. Sometimes, it's baffling how things like that can happen.**

**I know people can change, but I was beginning to wonder. Is it really that we change or is it just because we begin to see things from their perspectives better the more we're around them? I hadn't felt like I'd change much, and Zabuza sure as hell hadn't changed a bit.**

**We were just as stubborn and irritated with each other as we'd been from the start. So- how did we- end up like this?**

**It we didn't change, maybe we just adapted. Molded ourselves to deal with the little quirks of the other person to the point that- the next thing you know- we could find ourselves sitting together, remotely peacefully, enjoying something.**

**But life has a strange way of giving you everything one moment, then throwing you a curve ball the next.**

**Little did I know, that my life was about to change, and that everything that I have come to believe would be completely thrown out of the window. Things would change, and I would change. I would learn that second chances exist. Though they come in the most odd of forms. I'd find my self with some pretty strange alliances and friends I've never encountered before, and some new enemies as well. It would be my turn to prove myself and be that hero that everyone wants to be.**

**Who would have known that it would all start when I was feeling my lowest one snowy and cold night….**

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: **Well, what did you think? I'm working on chapter one already. This isn't beta read, but I'll send it to my beta tomorrow to see if there's anything wrong with it. Please review me! I'll need them!


	2. Falling into Darkness

**A/N: Starting off actual first chapters of fanfics now. I never thought I'd be writing fanfiction here. Well, what do you know, I'm sucked in. **

**This is a pretty nice fandom. But I've seen some authors get burned so I am being careful. Before I continue I have to say one thing.**

**Pairings are listed in my summaries and basic information, so do not flame the pairing when you know it's there. If you don't like my works, you do not have to read them.**

**I could care less about flames, I write for my own enjoyment. Flames will just be used in the fire that keeps me warm another night and lets me live to write more fanfiction, so if you want to donate, go ahead.**

**Blood on the Snow**

**Chapter 1: Falling into Darkness**

**By: Ohtori Akio**

There are several things that a woman doesn't like to deal with right after having all of her hopes of being a good ninja. In Anko's case, the team she was assigned to recently topped that list, yet they were the ones she was running away from.

She really had no where to go, and at this rate she'd catch hypothermia from the cold winds and snow falling heavily from the sky. The woman was bloody and near death, holding her damaged arm. Anko didn't want to return to her team mates, and quite frankly, she was better off sleeping in the park with the birds.

She was all alone in the snow, her blood dripping onto it, tainting the once pristine and pure substance. The dark haired female stopped, looking down at the snow with a downtrodden look plastered to her features.

Anko continued trudging down the snow covered sidewalk, glaring at anyone who dared to give her a second look. Her already irritable mood was sizzling with anger, hurt and betrayal. The last thing she wanted to deal with at the moment was another human being.

Vivid scenes raced through the confines of her mind.

_Anko walked into the darkened room with the two members of her squad._

"_I see we've been out enjoying ourselves, Anko." An ominous voice intoned from the other side of the room._

_Her eyes narrowed, knowing that this was coming._

_The female ninja took a deep breath and walked half the distance of the room, where the two males sat. Their dark figures being the ones she dreaded seeing._

"_Anko, what have we told you about going out on solo missions?"_

_She bit her tongue from saying too much. "It was unexpected."_

"_I don't care if it was or not. You were given strict orders to meet the team back here before dark. Where were you?" Their squad leader questioned, glaring at the woman, eyes so cold they felt like daggers piercing her skin and soul._

"_I was ambushed." She said, hoping that if it seemed like she was caught off guard, they'd let her off the hook._

_Those eyes seemed to show a stabbing flash. "We have ways of dealing with those who are weak." He leveled her with a deadly look. "You will always be under us, Anko. We hold your life in our hands, and no matter what you do, we'll know."_

"_Why the hell can't you just believe me? I'm fucking tired of you using me like this!" She pushed him away from her and stormed out of the room, her other team member watching silently from his sitting position on the floor._

"_Fuck off! You can't control me!" Anko muttered to herself, slamming the door behind her and walking down the street._

That was the last thing that Anko remembered before she woke up, lying in a pile of blood, body aching and arm severed badly. She knew what had happened.

"Damn them! Just…Fucking damn them!" She cursed out into the near vacant streets of the snowy village. "Why can't anything go right in my life? Just for once…"

She sat down beside of a trashcan, the side of it sheltering her from the snowfall. Anko wasn't sure how long she'd been there, but she decided to not care. _'There's no way I'm going back…'_

As she sat there, she noticed a little kid walking past, carrying some food in his arms. It seemed that he went on an errand for his family.

"Huh?" The boy paused in front of Anko.

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

The boy had black hair and dark eyes; he was dressed in a green coat, an olive cap and scarf. He reached into his bag of food and handed her some bread.

After a moment passed of staring at the food, she finally reached out and took it from him. "Thanks…"

"Don't worry Miss, things will look up for you. You've just got to have faith. That's what my parents always say, anyway."

Blinking, Anko stared at the boy a long time as he walked away, pondering on his random kind act. She squinted as he turned the corner a block away.

The snow had seemed to stop as the dark haired girl ate in silence. She felt less cold, seeing as the wind died down and the snow was reduced to small flurries here and there that were really too small to be noticed.

"This is just my luck. It figures, of all the days, it would be today that it decided to snow." She closed her eyes and sighed.

Anko sat there, huddled in the crevice, of the trashcan and the wall. All was silent as the snow began to fall again. From a distance away, she could hear the soft crunching of the snow under foot. Someone was approaching.

The huddled woman could barely keep her eyes open, but made out a tall figure walking through the snow at a casual pace. She pulled her coat more about herself to maintain body heat.

The figure walked right in front of her and stopped, pupils shifting to the form on the ground.

"Pathetic." The emotionless voice stated.

"Who are you calling pathetic, pal?" The dark haired ninja spoke up after a moment of silence. "I'm just resting up. I'll be back on my feet in no time."

The man closed his eyes and smirked, barely visible through his wrappings about his face. "Are you trying to convince yourself of that? Because I certainly know better."

Feminine eyes narrowed and a moment of silence passed between them. "You know, you shouldn't talk about people when you know nothing about them."

"And when you see someone spilling so much blood, your mind comes to a conclusion. " The figure spat back.

"What do you want from me, anyway?"

"You're the one who seemed to feel the need to speak to me. "

"I wasn't going to sit here and get insulted."

"You still have quite a bit of fight in you for someone who's on the brink of hypothermia." The taller figure looked down on her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I ruin your day by actually being more alive then you thought I was originally?" Anko dared, sarcasm laced in the comment.

"If you're so strong, then what are you doing out here in the snow?" The male's eyes narrowed, he seemed to be getting impatient.

"I was betrayed by my team mates and left to die." She spat. "Heh, but they'll get what's coming to them. I'll come back and kill them all."

The man chuckled.

'_Damn them! I wouldn't be out here dealing with this if my team members weren't such bastards. I don't even know how I'm going to survive the night…'_

Running a hand along her crisp, snow covered hair she remained silent.

'_Man does this stink. I really have no one else to rely on…'_

"You remind me of someone." She could hear a male voice through her thoughts, and then her eyes widened as something seemed to hit her.

'_You've got to be shitting me! … But I have no choice. Maybe I can stay with this guy for a while until I get my strength up…I mean, we both look pretty lonely out here…It's worth a shot!'_

Anko stood up and dusted the snow off of herself.

The tall figure turned to walk away, muttering the fact that she would die before the morning came and adding to the fact that she was pathetic with more insults.

"Hey!" The voice made him pause in his step and look over his shoulder.

"Hn…What is it now?"

"What's your name?" She asked. "It's kind of rude to just leave without telling me who you are."

"Call me, Zabuza." He said simply.

The dark haired woman walked over and got in front of him, looking up at him, straight in the eyes. "I'm Anko. You know, I was thinking. It's really bad for my health to be out here with no place to go…"

'_Man do I sound desperate.' _ Her thoughts berated her. _'But who else is going to help me?'_

"Come."

"What?" She was confused by his sudden word.

There was an awkward silence between them before she spoke again.

"Zabuza."

He looked at her.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you helping me? I didn't expect you to say yes. I mean, you act like you could care less about what happens to a nobody like me."

"Look, you don't have a choice. It's either come with me or stay out here and die." Zabuza sternly told her.

"What's the price?"

"Hmm…You catch on quickly." He allowed a smile to creep onto his features. "Smart girl."

Anko looked at him with anticipation.

"From this day on, you belong to me… Completely."

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Wow, that was a lot of work. I hope I did a good job with it. I really want to know what you all think. This is proving challenging for me, gets the adrenaline pumping. I worked 3 hours on this chapter alone. **

**More to come!**


	3. Mysterious

**A/N: Here I go with another chapter of this wonderful story. I'm glad so many people like it. It didn't get many hits at mediaminer, but people seem to love it over at so I'll write it for them.**

**Thanks for all the reviews as well!**

**Blood on the Snow**

**Chapter 2: Mysterious**

**By: Ohtori Akio**

There were certain things Anko was taught when she was small by her sensei and parents, and how not to get picked up by strangers would be one of those rules. Well, what was she supposed to do when she had no where else to go? She knew that anyone sane wouldn't take up Zabuza's offer, but he insulted her and thought she couldn't stand up for herself. If she didn't accept, it was going to piss her off for the rest of her life.

Of course, if he were just some pervert trying to get laid or someone who thought he could just kill her like it was nothing, she'd note to herself that he had no business telling her how to live her life, but she also couldn't help but notice this one seemed different…Maybe because it was the first person to shove it in her face that she should be strong enough to handle her team mates.

Or it could be that he's some stuck up bastard who thinks the world revolves around him and peons like herself weren't worth any trouble.

Whatever the reasons were, it was now in Anko's subconscious to prove him wrong.

She found herself agreeing to his demands.

The two walked through the snow in complete silence. All that could be heard was the soft crunching of the snow beneath their feet. They walked up to a door and paused, Zabuza looked over his shoulder at the freezing Anko.

"I have some extra clothing and a shower inside." He told her, monotonely.

"You want me to believe you aren't going to rape me?" Anko glared.

"That all depends on you."

The door opened and she followed him inside. _'Maybe…Just maybe he won't be like those teammates back in Konoha…So my teammates are assholes and the next thing I know Mr. I Communicate with My Face Muscles was walking me to some strange place. Part of me wants to say, hey he's just being nice and taking me someplace to stay, now the other part is going Anko! You moron! He's obviously hitting on you! I'm sure he plans on joining you in that shower and he probably has no clothes for you so you'll have to use body heat to keep warm! I'm going to watch his every move! There will be hell to pay if he even says something that sounds dirty to me.'_

The man paused, "Hang up your coat here."

He extended a hand to retrieve it and piercing eyes glared.

'_Of course I'm hiding under here. I bet you want me to take it off…'_

Before Anko could get a word out, Zabuza spoke up again. "You'll need proper bandages for your wounds." He gave up trying to get her coat and took a step back. "I didn't go through the trouble of inviting you in to make your own personal lake in my door."

"Like snow doesn't melt in the heat…" She murmured to herself, then she saw a hand reach out to her and alarms went off once more. She caught his wrist and held it firmly. "I'd like it if you kept your mitts off." The woman warned.

"You have an injury."

The female blinked and just stared at him, thrown off by the way he was acting recently.

'_Not a bit of gratitude…' _The tall male thought to himself, staring down Anko in the door way, his frown deepening. _'Why did I even take her with me anyway?' _He looked deep into her eyes, and could see a fire boiling within them. _'She's not like other kunoichi…Hmpf, spiteful thing, isn't she?'_

"So," Anko replied, sitting his wrist back to his side, "You're here all alone?"

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No…I just thought you'd be…" She paused for a couple of minutes, looking down with a bit of a saddened look. "Lonely…"

Zabuza's eyes widened a bit on that word. It was the word that always struck him deeply, no matter what kind of emotionless façade he tried to rid it with. Hoping that the girl wasn't looking, his face quickly hardened to produce a look of never hearing the word in his life.

"Hey, I'd rather be alone then with my team mates."

"That's the reason you were trying to commit suicide in the snow."

"That's putting it mildly."

"I'm not fond of swimming through the front door." Zabuza stated, noticing the large, soggy place in front of the door.

'_Ok, ok he doesn't seem that bad…He's trying to be nice…Well something like that…How about less cold then he was before? I'll humor him; I'm freezing over here anyway.' _Sighing in defeat she replied. "Alright, alright I'll take if off."

The ninja took off her long tan coat and handed it to him.

"The shower is down the hall to your left."

Figuring with how pale and icy her skin was, there wasn't another choice, so she slowly followed him down the hall and to the left. She saw one towel hanging on the wall. Without a word, Zabuza retreated down the hall.

"What was **that **all about anyway?" She looked confused. "One minute he's soaking up the fact that I'm going to die, and then next he's being helpful…"

Pulling the door closed behind her, she frowned at the lack of a lock, but there was nothing to barricade it with, so she just hoped that no one would try to come in and join her in the shower. She stripped down and looked at her arm in the mirror, an angry, sad and betrayed look surfaced across her face when she saw her injuries.

"Damn them…" Anko spat, running her finger tips along her cuts and gashes, flinching as she did.

She sighed after a few minutes, giving her reflection a defeated look and stepping into the shower, turning on the hot water and letting it thaw her frozen skin. The woman enjoyed the hot water cascading down her body, simply relaxing like she could rarely do around her squad. That's when the turning of the door knob caught her ears.

'_He wouldn't…That perverted rapist!'_

There was a slight squeak of the door being pulled back as Anko reached out of the shower, grabbing some Kunai Knives that she had dispersed on the floor, ready to attack, looking around the corner of the shower curtain. The dark haired woman raised her hand in the stabbing motion and as soon as those spikey tresses came through the door she let them fly.

"**Take that you perverted bastard!**"

The door slammed shut as they missed his head and stuck into the door, Zabuza making quite an irritated face on the other side of the door.The Mist Ninja glared at the door before opening it slowly again.

"What in the hell was that for?"

"Spying on me in the shower! What do you think? Quit trying to play innocent with me!"

"I suppose you wanted to drip dry and run around naked?" There was a rustling noise, then a slam. "If you value you're life, Anko. You won't try that again."

Peeking out from behind the shower curtain, she noticed some clothes sitting on top of the sink.

Anko blinked, in a state of shock that that's all there was. _'You mean…He was just…Oh hell…'_

She hopped out and dried off, looking at the clothes. They were a drab, long sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. Holding the towel up to herself, she peeked out of the door. "Uh…Zabuza? "

"If you don't like them just put your own clothes back on. They were the smallest clothing I could find, everything else was too large."

"Look, sorry about the kunai knife ordeal." Anko apologized before shutting the door and getting dressed. The male sat in silence in the other room.

_'The ass did something completely and totally unnatural. That damned bastard that perverted scum that good for nothing, idiot- went and proved me wrong.'_

Anko put her hair up and walked into the room with Zabuza, sitting in front of him.

"You're arm." He said simply.

"What?" Anko looked confused.

"If you don't want an infection then let me see it." He demanded roughly.

She lifted her arm to him, not sure of his reaction or what he would do. He gently pulled up the baggy sleeve of the shirt and examined the wound. "Don't move."

Before Anko could protest, he began to wrap the wound. "You're already healing, so there's no use in getting stitches."

"Ow!" The girl closed one eye as the wrapping got a bit tighter.

"Hm." Zabuza almost laughed. "You're welcome."

"Why are you helping me anyway?" The dark haired woman demanded.

The man paused, caught off guard by that question. "I don't know." He muttered finishing his job.

"I don't get you."

"That makes two of us…"

**TBC**

**A/N: Hope I did this chapter justice. They aren't exactly the easiest people to put in romantic situations for me. Well, please review! prays this chapter is good.**


	4. Toss About in Bed

**A/N: Another chapter to my little story. Sorry about being so late with it. I've been working on drabbles, but I'm now back for a while and hopefully things will be back to normal as far as updates go!**

**Share the AnkoZabuza love!**

**Blood on the Snow**

**Chapter 3: Toss About in Bed**

**By: Ohtori Akio**

"Well, damn he's confusing…" Anko muttered looking at her newly bandaged arm. She looked at the man beside of her, just as equally perplexed by his actions as he was.

She cradled her arm with her other.

"Are you going to sit there all night?" Zabuza questioned.

Realizing that he wasn't lying about staying with him, she had no means of contacting anyone, she nervously hugged herself. "It is all right for me to spend the night here, right?"

"Would I be giving you those clothes if I wanted you to leave? Besides, you belong to me now, remember?"

The woman felt uneasy, and though her façade was diminished some, "I hate to impose like this…it's just…after everything that happened with my team mates…Well….I mean….and well…those damn bastards."

He said nothing in reply and just returned his attention back to cleaning that monstrous sword of his.

"Wait…" She spoke up again after a pause. "Where do I sleep?"

"Here." He replied, nonchalantly, not looking up from his current task at hand and motioned to the other side of the futon he slept on.

Anko looked to him, then to the other side of the futon. Sure, it was a big enough futon and he was all the way on the other side, but who the hell did he think she was?

"Hey! Just because you think I'm weak for being beat up by my team mates, doesn't mean I'm easy slut who will just sleep with anyone!" She yelled, crossing her arms.

Looking up from the sword, and stopping all cleaning functions, he leveled her with a sincere glare. Well, as sincere a glare one could expect to get from Zabuza.

"I only have one bed." The room fell quiet, before he continued. "Unless you expect me to sleep outside."

"No…" She turned away, and then slowly walked over-knowing that there was hardly any other furniture in the house. She berated herself for getting into this mess in the first place. _'Damn it! Here I am with a guy I barely know and he expects me to sleep in the same bed with him and trust him? What the hell does he take me for? A fool?' _Her thoughts paused, thinking back on what she knew about him, _'Then again, he is one of the people who just talked to me…if you could consider that talking and he didn't try anything when he found me…maybe he's not some asshole of a male after all."_

Finally resigning herself to the situation, Anko slowly walked over and sat at the edge of the futon. Trying to get as close to the opposing edge as she could, she closed her eyes and waited, _'If he makes one move, I swear I'll kick his ass and strangle him with his own headband!'_

A slight rustle and she couldn't help but tense. Peeking out of the corner of her eye, she could see him reaching a hand over in her direction and before she knew it, she'd jolted up and forcefully grabbed his wrist, leveling him with a stern glare.

"Waiting for me to let my guard down, eh? Maybe I should break your wrist for trying to trick me into this you damn…"

"I didn't know covering you up because you looked cold was an offense punishable by torture." He retorted, glaring back.

For a few minutes the two did nothing but glare at each other, until with a "hmpf" Anko turned back and yanked the covers over herself. "I can take care of myself. I don't need some man helping me." She fumed, waiting for him to fight back.

Instead, a candle was blown out and she could hear him lying down.

With a satisfied smirk that she'd probably chewed him out, she pulled the blankets up a bit more when a quiet, yet firm voice caught her ears.

"If you can take care of yourself, then deal with your team mates yourself."

Body tensing angrily, she grabbed the pillow underneath her head and lunged in the general direction of the voice, only to feel the grip of her arm, and her bangs brushing against someone else's face as the pillow was pried from her hands.

"What the hell are you-!"

"Your childish behavior isn't necessary. Go to sleep." He spoke, his breath warming her still-chilled face and alerting her to how close they actually were.

"You're the one holding me." She argued.

"And I don't see you struggling to pull away."

"……..I hate you." Anko muttered.

"Then why did you accept my offer?"

She sighed, irritated and began to pull away, intent on trying to sleep. Then it hit her. "You took my pillow."

"I can't have you attacking me with my own household items."

"Where am I supposed to lay my damn head?"

He didn't reply.

"Damn you, I have half a nerve to…to…"

"To what?" Zabuza asked, voice giving off a slight air of amusement.

Anko smirked. He thought he was so smart, but he wouldn't expect this:Fine, if you take my pillow…then I guess this is what I'll have to do."

She lay her head down on his chest, expecting him to move, flinch, push her away or say something.

"Well?" She asked.

"Just don't drool on me." He replied as if nothing was wrong at all.

About to fight back, Anko stopped when she felt his hand pulling up the blankets around them both.

'_What the hell is up with him?' _She thought. _'He's…He's not like those other assholes. He's well…Nice. Quiet, underhandedly arrogant, rough and smug, but still nice.' _She looked up, noticing that he had taken off his facial wrappings to sleep. Anko stared at his face as he slept, watching it for a while, then smiled and laid her head back down on his chest, where she could hear his heart beat.

'_He's attractive too, once you get to see his real face.**' **_

With that being the last thought on her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

**To Be Continued**

**Well, that's all for this chapter. I would have made it longer but I had to end this specific chapter at that point. The next one will be coming up soon though. Please stay tuned.**

**Oh and don't forget to give a review.**


	5. Denial

**A/N: Here I am with another chapter. Sorry for not updating like I should. Shame on me! I just watched the Zabuza Arc again to get a better grip on his character. I RP him in a private Naruto Role Play, but the circumstances were very different from this Fanfic.**

**To answer a reviewer's question: This could be pre-manga, I had never thought of that option. I just say it's AU-ish. Nice observation.**

**Blood on the Show**

**Chapter 4: Denial**

**By: Ohtori Akio**

Anko, though the age she is, had rarely been that close to a man that she could feel the beating of their heart. And thanks to her team mates, she couldn't even get within a mile of love or they'd be upset. Love was a forbidden subject by all means when it came to her team mates. There was no time for love in her life.

Put simply, as much as she wanted to rip her team mates heads off and roll them down the street, it wasn't wise to get them riled up. Since they were smart enough to screw with her head and beat her up when she least expected it. She **would** get them back for that. No one made Mitarashi Anko look like a fool.

She was going to be humiliated for the last time. Soon, they would be the ones who were groveling at her feet, begging for mercy under her cruel blow. She'd show them what it felt like to be the one laying on the ground in a bloody heap. She'd show them what it meant to suffer and she'd take great sadistic joy in it.

Even so, she didn't feel comfortable getting close to anyone and her mentality had gotten to the point of paranoia just from a touch on the shoulder. Given the circumstances, she was confused as hell as she laid there on this killer's bed, his chest being used as her pillow. Never once did she figure she'd get into anything that was even remotely close to this predicament, but she didn't panic, not even as he pulled the covers up around them.

In the morning, however, all that would soon change.

Anko cracked an eye open upon seeing the dark fabric below her and noticing that this was no pillow. It was warm and hard, and a heart beat could be heard and the slowed, heavy breathing the signified sleep.

'_Flat chest…short hair…Zabuza…'_

"You sleaze ball!" Anko yelled, after processing that information and nearly shoving Zabuza off of the futon and punching him in the chest.

Quickly sitting up, her shoulder registered the pain caused by using it in such a manner. "Damn!"

"Damn! What was that for?" The man shot off his mouth, while at the same time pondering on how that was a rather unusual way to be awoken. He glared at the kunoichi, rubbing his chest where she hit it. _'She certainly is strong for a mere kunoichi…'_

Anko, who was now erect by the futon, walked off towards the bathroom, muttering something under her breath on the way out of the door.

Once she was out of the room, she shut the door and leaned against it, slumping down and looking at the floor. "Shit…Why the hell did I do that?" Her aching body answered. _'He's not them…He wouldn't have hurt me…'_

All thought process stopped. _'Wait a minute…How am I for sure that he wouldn't…How can I be so sure? Why do I trust him?'_

Wallowing in these thoughts, which were going through her head at light speed, she heard a voice from the other side of the door.

"Anko."

"Yes?" Her body straightened from its slumping position.

"Did you forget how to use the objects in the bathroom?"

Her head snapped up. She almost forgot why she was in there in the first place. "Hold on! Can't a woman relieve herself around here?" She asked with annoyance, and then flushed the toilet, trying to make it convincing that she was going to the bathroom. "I'm getting it."

Taking a cool washcloth, she let the water run over the rag for a moment, then rang it out. Opening the door, she came face to face with the tall shinobi, almost running into him. She threw her hands up and took a step back.

"Here." Anko replied as she noticed that he was shirtless. He must have taken his shirt off after being punched by her to examine his wound. She could see a red mark on him and sat the cold rag on it, watching his muscles jump as she rested the rag on that spot. While watching the spot she was resting the rag on, she flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Since I'm such a pervert and everything, you'd think you'd be on your guard." He said with a slightly amused look on his face.

Deep within her mind, the questions reeled around and around. The question of why kept making a prominent appearance in her mind. The kunoichi decided to approach him on her questions, not really expecting him to give her an answer, but looking for one all the more.

"You aren't' exactly a people person. So why the hell am I the exception!" The woman's frustration was building.

Zabuza blinked, her question probing the depths of his mind for an answer that wasn't there.

"That's my business. You're mine now, and there's no going back."

"That's so-so-so- **you** of you to say!"

There was a moment of silence before Zabuza spoke up. "Come. We have a mission today."

The flame of rage brewing inside of her, Anko grabbed him by the arm and got in front of him, almost in his face. "Tell me why!"

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. "Why did you take up the offer?"

"I…I don't know." Her grip loosened.

"People don't always act with hidden meaning." He told her coldly as he walked past her and into the bathroom.

"Then what do they act with?"

Zabuza looked at himself in the mirror, those same cold eyes staring back at him. He noticed the red spot on the right side of his chest from Anko's inventive way of waking him.

"What's wrong with that crazy woman?" He wondered out loud, his thoughts once again going back to the battered and bruised woman he had found in the snow. He looked at the door. "So if her team mates don't like what she does…"

Retrieving her clothes, Zabuza walked back to find their owner.

'_Once she's dead- I won't have to deal with her again. It's for the best that way.'_

The spiky haired man began to recall the events of the course of time that he had known Anko. _'She is very different…At this point in time, someone should be telling me that it wouldn't hurt to give her a chance, but my chest begs to differ on that subject matter. How dare she strike me…_

_None of this is my business. Not her. Not her life. Nothing about her. I don't care about her.' _He thought to himself as he walked down the hall.

He approached the bathroom door, where he heard something moving inside of the room.

She was in the bathroom again. He sighed to himself, the frowned and knocked on the door. He didn't hear an answer, but heard no water running, he figured that maybe she couldn't hear him and slowly opened the door.

There was Anko, standing butt naked in front of the mirror, getting ready to step into the shower, reaching up to unbound her hair. She turned around and both of them froze as they realized the situation.

After a moment, he quickly shut the door and just dodging the flying shurikens.

"You perverted bastard! Do you not know how to knock?" Anko fumed, her face flushing a deep red as she covered herself and looked very offended.

"It's not my fault that you're deaf." He muttered in reply, hoping that it didn't sound as surprised and frustrated as it did to his own ears. His eyes were still a bit widened from their normal state, and despite his protests, he heart was racing and his breath was accelerated from its normal state. _'It was adrenaline.' _He reasoned with himself.

But as he was walking down the hall, he caught glance of his reflection in one of the mirrors and stopped, turning to see himself within the reflective object. He couldn't give himself a reason for the slight blush to his features.

**TBC**

**A/N: One of these days, I'll write a decent length chapter sighs to himself. Well, I hope you enjoy this little work on mine. Hope it's in character. I tried to portray Zabuza blushing in a normal (or at least normal) reaction that would cause him to do such a thing.**

**Please review.**


End file.
